


James Barnes and the Allure of Possible Friendship

by Fullmetal450



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Conventions, Cosplay, Drabble, F/M, Female Gamer, First Meeting, Friendship, Gamers, Gen, Possible Romance, Veteran Bucky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-29
Updated: 2014-07-29
Packaged: 2018-02-10 23:22:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2044086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fullmetal450/pseuds/Fullmetal450
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>James Barnes' favorite part of his new life is the plethora of new hobbies he can have. One of the biggest ones he's gotten is gaming, nurtured slowly by Sam. He's good, it's hard not to be when you do nothing else all day, but there's no real pull for him to go out into the community, into the whole convention scene. But his one friend in the gamer world and his one friend in the real world (at least the one who's in the state) are both going to a convention. He can't help the little bits of curiosity that he has, so finally, he agrees to get off his ass and go out, meet some new people. He expected some people he could relate to, both genders, no one especially exciting.</p><p>There's no way you can ever expect a woman like that, though. No matter what.</p>
            </blockquote>





	James Barnes and the Allure of Possible Friendship

**Author's Note:**

> I have a headcanon where Bucky refers to himself as James in his head because that's a better connection to make than to this person he's only been told about. He can find facts about James Buchanan Barnes, but nothing concrete about 'Bucky'.

It isn’t for the first time today that James looks around himself and worries that he made a horrible mistake. But this is the first time in his life he’s worrying about it while a knockout redhead’s making her way towards him. He’s been at this small scale gaming convention for two hours, dragged here by a friend of his who has become more obsessed with the new army game than he can ever hope to be. But as a veteran soldier, and veteran gamer, he didn’t see much of the draw in a run of the mill game. But the convention itself had a different kind of pull for him.

Weeks ago, he’d started casually chatting with another seasoned player, one with gamer points on the same general level as his. Not amazingly brilliant, but not those of a twelve year old goofing off with Peggle or Minecraft, either. He’d extended an arm of friendship, if only because the other player had an interesting icon and an occasional funny update. He’d received an email address after a few more messages between them, and their correspondence only grew from there. He’d been dealing with dozens of ‘Is your boyfriend hot?’ jokes from Sam, all of them friendly and hopeful, when he finally derailed him by agreeing to go to the nearby convention. A tiny thing, no one major being on the guest list, but when he mentions it, and finds that his friend is going...He can already feel himself getting a bit pumped and excited.

That's exactly why he's here, sitting in the crappy coffee shop chain add on that's connected to the hotel, watching the crowd of people flow by easily with two cups of coffee on the table. He picks up his phone, flicking through until he finds his friend's email, and opens it to check, not for the first time in ten minutes, when he or she is supposed to arrive. He gets a quick email, and when all it says is 'look up, soldier,' he quickly lifts his head and glances around the room, looking for anyone that's walking in his direction.

She’s dressed to the nines in armor, and it’s sleek and sexy, but actually detailed, and he knows she’s not just here to advertise the next volume of any saga. Unable to help himself, he lets his gaze drag down, examining both the beautiful woman, and the beautiful uniform, and his eyes widen as he catches sight of the red hourglass in the middle of her belt. “Well fuck me,” he murmured breathlessly, refusing to believe it’s a whimper.

The woman, this gorgeous woman he never expected to be on the other side of the computer or game system, is making her way over with an easy smirk, and she sits down across from him, taking the extra coffee cup on the table. She opens the lid, stirring lightly with her finger and peering at her fingernail. Quirking an eyebrow, her smile grows even more sly, and she rests her chin on her fist. “Expecting a man?”

James coughs softly, using it to clear his throat and check to make sure he’s not drooling because oh god he can see her up close and those decals are everything professional cosplayers want. He’s drawn out of his thoughts by a sharp, “Like what you see?” and he glances back up to her face. Trying for his usual crooked grin, he shrugs casually. "Definitely. I don't think I've ever seen one of the really good costumes up close. Usually it's shitty online pictures, or they're just not detailed enough."

She smiles more easily, holding out her hand. He reaches out to shake a hand in what may be latex or some shiny, leathery hybrid, and gives her his best smile. "Natasha Romanov," she says, and he sighs softly at what it sounds like falling off her lips. "You're James Barnes."

James nods sharply, running a hand through his hair and playing with some of the longer strands. "Yep. Sorry if I look kind of different. Picture's from the army, and I haven't cut my hair since I got my discharge." He shrugs, sighing and looking away, irritated slightly by the nerves that have him on edge.

Natasha seems to notice and find amusement from his awkwardness, and she gives him another sly smile, standing. "It's fine. You look nice. Want to walk around and see how many free things I can get?" She's smiling teasingly, pulling a laugh from him and convincing him to climb out of his seat and prepare to venture back into the surprising crowd. "So are you actually really surprised to see me?" Her tone is soft, a double edge that let's him know there's an obvious wrong answer.

Sighing and raising an eyebrow, he grins and bumps her shoulder slightly, tossing his cup in the trash. "A little bit. You were online so much, I didn't expect you to have time to pull together a gorgeous costume. And as for you...I'll be honest, I at least expected someone nice and interesting, at most expected someone kind of pretty. Then again, I also expected not to make friends, so you're breaking all kinds of expectations," he says, forcing himself to be casual and light hearted. 

Natasha watches him carefully for a moment, a look of suspicion in her eyes before she grins and motions for him to follow. "James Barnes, follow me and you'll see everything I can break. Probably within this day." He hesitates for a moment before trailing after her, nothing in him thinking of doubting her for a second.


End file.
